A weekly look at new products, innovations

Editor's Note: Each week, Rubber & Plastics News will take a look at some of the rubber industry's new products and innovations on www.rubbernews.com. Does your company have a new product or new innovation? To be considered for inclusion in this recurring feature, email [email protected].

Ingersoll Rand Inc. has unveiled its ARO Controller, which it says works seamlessly with ARO EXP Series Electronic Interface pumps. The company said it can be integrated with many existing ARO EXP pumps when an electronic interface package is added, resulting in a fully automated, multi-pump system for batching and container and tank filling. The ARO Controller is available worldwide.

Ingersoll Rand said the ARO multi-pump Controller can be programmed with remote triggers customized to the application in which it is being used. The Controller responds to those triggers, performing auto-shutdowns when necessary and sending data and service alerts to the operator.

The ARO Controller improves upon the already precise ARO EXP pump, Ingersoll Rand said, by introducing a closed-loop system with proprietary logic to ensure the pump is fully primed, which results in a dispensing or batching system with plus or minus 1 percent repeatability. The Controller features an easy-to-use interface, according to the firm, that is pre-programmed with eight languages.

The company said the ARO Controller can:

• Operate two pumps simultaneously, each with up to two batches;

• Detect leaks;

• Sense and respond to liquid levels;

• Accurately control proportions; and

• Control flow-rates.

For more information, visit this website.

Davron Technologies Inc. has designed and manufactured the DTI-1244, a thermoforming oven that uses electricity and gas to preheat products for a Tier 1 automotive supplier that manufactures interior components.

A specialized indexing conveyor oven, the DTI-1244 allows the customer to streamline its preheating process, Davron Technologies said, by eliminating steps that required additional handling of the products. Previously, the preheating process required two separate preheating systems—a contact press and a convection oven—along with the associated labor resources required to load both systems.

The DTI-1244 includes a two-tier system that performs preheating function simultaneously, Davron Technologies said, with the upper tier featuring a contact press that utilizes two heated platens with a decline conveyor. Both the upper and lower platens are heated by electric rod elements, and the lower tier features a natural gas heated convection oven and a wire mesh conveyor belt. Product is loaded simultaneously on the entrance end of both the upper and lower tiers and is indexed one position into the contact press and the convection oven chamber. Once preheated, Davron Technologies said both products index one more position, leaving the oven simultaneously. They are then matched to form a preheated vehicle set ready to be press-formed into a single unit.

Both tiers of the DTI-1244 thermoforming oven can operate between 200- and 500°F.

Davron said it designed the DTI-1244 thermoforming oven based on two criteria provided by the customer: the target production rate per hour and the temperature required to preheat.

Click here for more information about Davron's thermoforming oven capabilities.

Wacker A.G. has developed Semicosil 975 TC, a thermally conductive adhesive for electronics applications. Wacker said Semicosil 975 TC is characterized by high thermal conductivity and good flow and processing properties. Even light pressure is enough to form an ultrathin adhesive layer between the contact surfaces. This ensures not only good bonding but also optimum heat dissipation by the heat sink.

Semicosil 975 TC is an ideal interface material for forming thermal and mechanical connections in power electronics components or packages, Wacker said, and is an addition-curing silicone rubber that cures at temperatures above 90°C.

Before it cures, Wacker said, Semicosil 975 TC is a pasty, non-sag material that becomes progressively free-flowing with increased shearing. This property can be adjusted to processing requirements, thus Semicosil 975 TC—unlike comparable previous products—easily can be fed at low pressure and applied as a bead. It can be processed directly from the pail or from a regular cartridge.

Semicosil 975 TC is ideal for use as a thermal interface material in power electronics, Wacker said. The purpose of such materials is to fix semiconductor devices in engine control units and LED components on heat sinks in order to dissipate the heat. Without heat dissipation, the service life of electronic devices would be considerably impaired.

For more information, visit the firm's website.